Let the new era begin

The Norwester

Published: Nov 05, 2015 at midnight

Updated: Sep 30, 2017 at 5:18 a.m.

The experts are beginning to speak.

Robert Shepherd, a professor of public policy at Ottawa’s Carleton University, has said to the media that substantial hiring needs to take place in Canada’s civil service to counteract 10 years of “antagonism and cynicism” under the Harper government.
This has been as evident here in Newfoundland as anywhere else, with cuts to staff handling everything from the safety of your food to the handling of your tax returns to the processing of your EI claims to the protection of the lives of our brothers and sisters trying to reap the ocean’s bounty for a living.
It is not a stretch to say that every aspect of life here in Newfoundland and Labrador has been damaged by 10 years of Conservative cuts, muzzlings and defundings.
Contrary to the patently false Conservative portrayal of public servants as lazy, money-hungry drains on society, the government employees in this province and around the country are desperate to be able to serve the Canadian people as they deserve to be served. Those government employees have been denied the funds and staff they need to do the volume of work they have for year after year under Tony Clement and Stephen Harper. The momentous results of Oct. 19 have given us something else we have not had in 10 years: hope.
Justin Trudeau courted our vote with an open letter promising to repeal Conservative legislation that harmed union workers across the country, especially those employed in the public service. He promised to negotiate fairly and openly with us and to repair the damage done by the Harper-Clement tag team. He also made the commitment to reopen nine Veterans Affairs offices, including the one in Corner Brook.
Well, Mr. Trudeau, you have your mandate. It is now time to fulfil your promises. We hope to start a new era of restoring trust and respect where public service workers’ voices are valued and respected.
Here in Newfoundland and Labrador, so many families rely on federal government jobs to feed their families. So many more rely on the services we provide to protect their families, to feed them, to care for them. We have seven Liberal MPs in this great province, and they should be going to bat for all their constituents who believe that it is past time to treat Canada’s public service as the precious resource it is.
So I call on you, all seven members of the N.L. Liberal caucus, to bring these issues to the table. Ensure your party keeps its promises to the Canadian public and to the people who elected you. Do the right thing, let the labour movement continue to play the important role that you recognize it as having, and negotiate fairly and openly with us.
Don’t turn our hope back into despair.

Chris Lansdell, provincial director
for Newfoundland and Labrador
Public Service Alliance of Canada

Robert Shepherd, a professor of public policy at Ottawa’s Carleton University, has said to the media that substantial hiring needs to take place in Canada’s civil service to counteract 10 years of “antagonism and cynicism” under the Harper government.
This has been as evident here in Newfoundland as anywhere else, with cuts to staff handling everything from the safety of your food to the handling of your tax returns to the processing of your EI claims to the protection of the lives of our brothers and sisters trying to reap the ocean’s bounty for a living.
It is not a stretch to say that every aspect of life here in Newfoundland and Labrador has been damaged by 10 years of Conservative cuts, muzzlings and defundings.
Contrary to the patently false Conservative portrayal of public servants as lazy, money-hungry drains on society, the government employees in this province and around the country are desperate to be able to serve the Canadian people as they deserve to be served. Those government employees have been denied the funds and staff they need to do the volume of work they have for year after year under Tony Clement and Stephen Harper. The momentous results of Oct. 19 have given us something else we have not had in 10 years: hope.
Justin Trudeau courted our vote with an open letter promising to repeal Conservative legislation that harmed union workers across the country, especially those employed in the public service. He promised to negotiate fairly and openly with us and to repair the damage done by the Harper-Clement tag team. He also made the commitment to reopen nine Veterans Affairs offices, including the one in Corner Brook.
Well, Mr. Trudeau, you have your mandate. It is now time to fulfil your promises. We hope to start a new era of restoring trust and respect where public service workers’ voices are valued and respected.
Here in Newfoundland and Labrador, so many families rely on federal government jobs to feed their families. So many more rely on the services we provide to protect their families, to feed them, to care for them. We have seven Liberal MPs in this great province, and they should be going to bat for all their constituents who believe that it is past time to treat Canada’s public service as the precious resource it is.
So I call on you, all seven members of the N.L. Liberal caucus, to bring these issues to the table. Ensure your party keeps its promises to the Canadian public and to the people who elected you. Do the right thing, let the labour movement continue to play the important role that you recognize it as having, and negotiate fairly and openly with us.
Don’t turn our hope back into despair.

Chris Lansdell, provincial director
for Newfoundland and Labrador
Public Service Alliance of Canada